


the world is made to help people find each other

by penny



Category: Read or Die & Related Fandoms
Genre: F/F, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-21
Updated: 2010-12-21
Packaged: 2017-10-13 22:48:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/142573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/penny/pseuds/penny
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five moments in Hisami's romance with Anita, as seen through the titles of Nenene Sumiregawa's novels.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the world is made to help people find each other

**Author's Note:**

  * For [calliette](https://archiveofourown.org/users/calliette/gifts).



> Calliette, thanks so much for giving me the right motivation to finally write in a series near and dear to my heart. <3 I adore Hisa and Anita and hope this hits the right balance of sweet- yet-angsty, and that the ending is happy enough. (Anita and Hisa deserve one!)

**You Know Me**

They're in different high schools, but it's okay because they both have to take the Yamanote Line from Gotanda to Meguro, and even if a portion of their routes didn't overlap, there's still their phones and email and...well, meeting in the evening is tough -- there's club activities, homework, cram school -- but there's the weekend. It's not like she and Anita wouldn't see each other.

But it's nice having this time in the morning. It's a short ride, but it's enough.

"Morning, Hisa." Anita steps up beside her on the platform. She's still blinking sleep from her eyes, and it's clear from the way her hair is poking out from beneath her knit cap that she hadn't had enough time to comb it this morning, and she looks grumpy, but she sounds pleasant. Well, her version of pleasant.

"Good morning, Anita." And suddenly it is a good morning. Every morning she sees Anita is.

"It's so cold!" Anita's bundled up in a thick winter coat, and a long, hand knitted crimson scarf is wrapped twice around her neck.

Hisami nods. "It's supposed to snow this evening."

Anita grunts. She looks like she wants to say something else, but the train arrives, and they jostle for a position on one of the cars. Anita ends up standing behind her, presses momentarily against her as the train starts up again.

It's nice. Anita smells faintly of curry and paper and laundry soap. Maybe it's a weird combination, but Hisami likes it. It's comforting. And it fits Anita.

Anita pulls back. "Hey, Hisa?"

"Yes?"

"Are you..."

She waits. "Yes?" she asks, leaning back when Anita doesn't continue. Their coats absorb most of the contact, so she only imagines the warm press of Anita's lithe body.

"Are you doing anything on Christmas?"

"C-christmas?"

"It's just," the train shudders, and Anita lurches into her, "sorry. It's just, we're having a party, me and Maggie and Michelle and Nenene."

"Oh."

Anita pulls back again. "They're making me invite you."

"Oh." It's hard to catalog her disappointment. It sits heavy in her stomach, makes her feel cold. She tightens her grip on her bag, and her Anne and Diana frog keychains, the ones Anita made for her, bump against each other.

"I mean, I want you to come. But Michelle..."

Hisami giggles. "She does pinch my cheeks awfully hard. Oh! Don't tell her!"

She thinks she can feel Anita relax behind her. "I won't. And I really want you to come," she says in a rush.

"Of course I'll come."

"Really?" The train slows, approaching the Meguro Station. "That's great!"

Anita sounds so happy. Hisami smiles and half turns. Anita's smiling too -- grinning, really -- and light is streaming in through the window behind her so she's backlit and beautiful and oh! She's just amazing!

And they're best friends.

The train shudders to a stop. Anita lets go of her handhold. "I'll text you with more info!" She waves as she exits, still grinning. "Later, Hisa!"

It's enough, these moments. She doesn't need more. "Bye!"

 **Crimson Study**

Anita is a much better knitter than she is. Hisami struggles with the sock pattern. "Writing is much easier."

"It's not that hard. Here," Anita kneels in front of her, takes the needles from her. "You missed a couple of stitches." She makes the correction. "Are they for Tohru?"

"No." She takes the needles back from Anita and bends over the pattern to find her place. And to keep from having to look Anita in the eye.

"They're for --" she starts at the same time Anita says, "Everyone says --"

She looks up. Anita is so close. There's something in Anita's green eyes Hisami can't identify. She should be able to. She's a writer after all. These are the kind of emotions she should be able to describe, but Anita's escape her.

Her own emotions escape her. Her stomach's doing that warm flip-floppy thing it does when she's this close to Anita, close enough to smell. She wants to lean just that little bit closer, lick the tendon on Anita's neck, learn if she also tastes faintly of curry and paper and laundry soap. "Um," she says, drawing back. "Tohru and I..."

"Yeah?" Anita pulls back, too, and her expression folds into itself until there's no emotion.

"Tohru and I, we've known each other since elementary school. But we're not bosom friends."

Anita snorts. Her expression opens up again, and her amusement is bright and contagious. Hisami smiles. "Oh my. I think Tohru would like me calling him a bosom friend even less than he likes me calling him Tohru dear."

"Ha!" Anita settles back, sitting cross legged. "Tohru is a sixteen-year-old boy. He wouldn't mind being a bosom friend if it means he gets to _touch_ your bosom."

"So you're an expert on sixteen-year-old boys?"

Anita blushes and looks away. "Well..."

Hisami raises a hand to cover her mouth. She tries not to giggle, she really does, but it's not often she sees Anita so adorably uncomfortable. "You're blushing."

"I am not." Anita's blush deepens.

"You are too. Like a cherry."

"That's a lie!" Anita jumps to her feet, points an accusing finger at Hisami. "Take it back!"

"Uh huh." She shakes her head and laughs again. "Now you're as red as my yarn." She holds up her knitting. The yarn is a bright crimson. Anita's not quite that red...yet.

"You are such a liar!"

"I am not." She looks back down at the pattern again, feeling a flush sweep across her own cheeks. "The socks are for you, by the way."

"For me?" Anita calms and sits down again. "Why?"

"Well, I'm not good enough to knit you gloves. But these will match your hat and scarf!"

Anita's quiet for a moment. Then she says, "I can teach you how to knit gloves."

"Really?" Hisami looks up, hopeful.

Anita nods. "If you want."

"Of course I do!"

They share a smile. Then Anita says, "Can I still have the socks? My feet get cold in the winter."

 **Love Songs From Beyond the Ceiling**

Natsume drags them all to karaoke to celebrate the release of her sister's newest book. Next week, she'll have a different excuse. Hisami agrees to go because Tohko and Chiho will be there. Neither is a friend like Anita, but they are still friends. It's good for her to go.

Natsume arranges it so Hisami steps into the room first. "Oh." Tohru is there with three of his friends. She remembers Ryuji Kitayama from junior high, but she doesn't know the other two. "Tohru dear."

He grimaces and looks away, blushing. "I keep telling you not to call me that."

She crosses her hands in front of her. "Sorry."

"Tch." His cheeks are still pink, and he scoots over, leaving her the edge of the bench. "Come sit down."

Natsume -- at least, she thinks it's Natsume; she's been scheming to set her up with Tohru for years -- nudges her forward. Hisami stumbles, sits next to Tohru.

The others jockey for positions, squeeze in between the boys, all except for Natsume, who stands at the front of the room. "I'd like to thank you all for coming!" She flings her arms wide. "In honor of my sister's new book, _The Rose, Is it Blushing?_ , tonight's theme is," she winks at Hisami, "love songs!"

Chiho leans across the table. "Is she serious?" she asks, keeping her voice low.

"Who cares?" Tohiko giggles and snuggles closer to Ryuji.

"Oh, brother," Tohru says under his breath. Then, louder, "You first, Natsume."

"Yeah, you first!" Tohiko's nearly in Ryuji's lap now.

"That's fine." Natsume tosses her hair over her shoulder and turns to the machine.

Hisami curls her hands into fists on her lap. Natsume selects some pop song. The tune is catchy, and the sound is, thankfully, loud, so she won't have to talk to the others.

"So" Tohru leans close, "how's Anita?"

"Oh, she's fine. We're going to view cherry blossoms next weekend. You should come with us, Tohru dea...oh," she looks down at her hands, "you told me not to call you that."

Tohru slumps down. "It's all right, I guess."

"Really?"

"You should check with Anita before asking me to come."

"It's all right. Her sisters are coming. And," she drops her voice even though Natsume is too busy singing to overhear them, "Miss Sumiregawa."

"So it's a family thing?"

"I guess. But I'm not family."

Tohru shakes his head. "You're so stupid sometimes." He blushes again. "She invite you?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Well." Tohru leans back, hands clasped behind his head. "There you go."

"I don't understand."

"Geez. Aren't girls supposed to _talk_?" He glances at the front of the room. One of friends has the next turn. Natsume is standing with her hands on her hips, back to them. From her posture, Hisami knows Natsume's flirting with him.

"We talk. It's just..."

"Well, if I go and she gets pissed, you've been warned." He mutters the next bit, low enough that Hisami knows she's not supposed to hear it. "I'm stupid, too."

Maybe, but it's a good stupid. "Thanks, Tohru."

 **Midnight Liberation Zone**

It's a particularly hot summer, but Hisami barely notices the heat as she makes her way through the festival booths. She hopes Anita had been right when she said Miss Sumiregawa's book tour should be done in time for them to be back for the first summer fireworks festival. She's only been gone two months, but it's felt longer.

And then she sees her. Well, first she sees Maggie standing a good head taller than everyone around them. Then she makes out Michelle and Miss Sumiregawa. _Then_ she catches a glimpse of Anita's shaggy pink hair through the crowd.

Maggie notices her. Hisami can't hear what she says, but she knows Maggie's pointed her out. Anita rises up on tiptoe and waves. "Hisa!"

Anita...well she's always amazing, but she looks really pretty in her yukata, indigo with pink cherry blossoms.

Michelle squeals and pushes past Anita. "Hisami! You're just so adorable!"

"Thank you." Hisami doesn't blush anymore when Michelle pinches her cheeks. It's just Michelle's way, and it's nice.

"Enough!" Anita pulls Michelle away. "She's too old for that."

"Oh, you're never too old, Anita dear." Still, Michelle steps back.

"Miss Sumiregawa." Hisami bows.

"Call me Nenene." She smiles, and it's not at all scary. Hisami really has no idea why Anita says Miss Sumiregawa is terrifying. She's brash and informal and very strident, but that's not bad.

"Oh, um..." Sensei would be more appropriate. Miss Sumiregawa has been an amazing and generous mentor.

Miss Sumiregawa musses Anita's hair. "I only make this brat call me Big Sister Nenene."

Anita growls, then grins when she sees Hisami's tiny smile. "Can I go play with Hisa, _Big Sister Nenene_?"

Hisami can't help her giggle. She tries to look small and cute. "Please, Miss Sumiregawa?"

"Gak. You're making me feel old." She nudges Anita forward.

"You _are_ almost thirty," Anita mutters.

"Not for two more years, you brat!" Miss Sumiregawa pushes her a little harder. "Go!"

"Sorry about that," Anita says when they've put some distance between them and the others.

"It's all right. It's kind of nice, really."

Anita stops at at taiyaki stand, orders two, thrusts one of the cakes into Hisami's hands. "It's annoying," she says, but from her tone, Hisami knows she doesn't mean it. "Let's go claim a good spot to watch the fireworks."

"Okay." The taiyaki is delicious, filled with red bean paste. It's her favorite, but not Anita's, so she knows Anita ordered it special for her.

There's a tiny hill just beyond the last of the stalls. They stake out a spot and sit waiting for the fireworks to start. Hisami looks up at the sky. "Anita?"

"Mmmm?" Anita's shoved the rest of her cake in her mouth. Hisami giggles at her bulging cheeks. Anita finishes chewing, swallows. "What?"

"Nothing." She looks down at her cake. This is enough.

"You're so weird sometimes." Anita shifts, and her yukata rustles like paper. She leans in, and then...

And then Anita's kissing her. Kissing! It's clumsy, clearly a first kiss for both of them, but Hisami wouldn't change a thing, not even the red bean paste spilling across her lap.

 **Staircase to the Angel**

It's her first international book tour. She's very excited to be in London, even more excited that Anita is with her. She's not so excited she needs Anita as a bodyguard, but she's not afraid of the threats that have been leveled at her.

"The store's agreed to put security guards at the entrances here and also in front of the restrooms." Anita points out the location on the map spread out over the tabletop. "I'll be with Hisa at the signing table with two of your men, Ms. Ishii."

Ms. Ishii nods. She's come to appreciate Anita, which makes Hisami happy. Her agent has been good to her, but Anita's more important. Hisami steps up to the table, looks down at the floor plan. She should be more involved in this, and maybe she should even be a little worried, but this isn't her first stalker, isn't her first death threat, and...

And she's strong. Even if Anita weren't here, she'd still be strong. No matter where they are, there's always a piece of them with each other. And besides, if something happens to frighten her, she only needs to ask herself what Miss Sumiregawa would do.

Miss Sumiregawa has been a good mentor. Thanks to her, Hisami truly believes her writing matters. She's not going to back down from her words just because some people don't like them.

"It will be fine," she says. And she's right. The signing goes off without a hitch. Her stalker does show, but Anita and Ms. Ishii had also coordinated with local police, so he's arrested outside. Hisami only has to see him through the two-way mirror at the police station.

"That was anticlimactic," Anita says after they've thanked the police and are in the car Ms. Ishii hired to take them back to the hotel.

"You say that every time you don't get to beat someone up."

"What can I say?" Anita leans back and grins. "It's cathartic."

Hisami smiles. "That's why Ms. Ishii calls you a savage."

"Well, I tried saying I don't like people threatening my girlfriend, but then she called me a barbarian. I like savage better. And cathartic's a fun word to say. Ca-tharrrr-tic."

They pass the British Library. Anita tenses. Hisami places her hand on Anita's knee. Even though they're best friends, lovers, there are still some things Anita doesn't share.

Anita relaxes. "You know, the last time I was in London, Nenene tried to drag me inside. She said it would be cathartic."

Hisami smiles. "I wondered where you picked up that word."

"Hey!"

"If you want to tell me, I'll listen." She gives Anita's knee a squeeze. "But you don't have to."

Anita curls her hand over Hisami's. "It's a really long story." She's silent for a moment. "It would make a good book."

"Then you should write it."

"No." Anita snuggles close. "It's something I only trust to you. You're everything, Hisa."

She rests her head against Anita's. "So are you."

She'd been mistaking before. Nothing's enough, so she and Anita will keep giving each other more and more because what else can they do for the person who's everything?

Anita turns her head so she's speaking into Hisami's shoulder. "I'm glad I found you."

"We found each other."

"Yeah." Anita pulls back. Her eyes are a little watery, but she's smiling, and it's honest and bright so Hisami knows Anita's just as happy as she is. "The world's made for that."


End file.
